GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK TO BOUNCE BACK IN REMATCH WITH B-SENS
Feb 23, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
After coming up short on Wednesday, the Rochester Americans (24-18-5-1) have a shot at redemption tonight in a rematch with the Belleville Senators (24-20-2-3) at The Blue Cross Arena. The matchup will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. It can also be viewed locally on CW Rochester on tape delay Saturday afternoon.
One point is all that separates the two teams in the all-too-close North Division standings. The Amerks, who have points in 10 of their last 14 games, currently sit in the third place, five points back of the second-place Syracuse Crunch and one ahead of the fifth-place Senators.
Rochester, however, has a game in hand on Belleville, which has earned points in six of its last 10 contests coming into tonight.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST BELLEVILLE
Dating back to the 2021-22 season, forward Michael Mersch has recorded 16 points (7+9) in 15 career games against Belleville. The Amerks captain has notched at least one point and one shot in 12 of his 15 games versus the Senators.
Since Belleville entered the league ahead of the 2017-18 season, Rochester has an all-time record of 16-19-2 against the Senators. The Amerks have posted a .500 winning percentage or better in four of the first five seasons in the head-to-head series.
Both teams have outscored the opposition in the first period this season while being outscored in the second and third periods.
LAST TIME OUT
Forward Mason Jobst scored his career-best 15th goal of the season but the Amerks dropped a 4-1 score to the Senators in the first of back-to-back meetings between the two teams Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
While Jobst scored in the second period for the second consecutive contest and added his ninth point (5+4) of February, Lukas Rousek and Linus Weissbach tallied an assist. Rousek has recorded a point in 21 of the last 25 games for Rochester, registering six goals and 19 assists dating back to Dec. 20, while Weissbach has picked up 11 (7+4) of his last 12 points on home ice.
Goaltender Devon Levi (6-3-2) stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced in what was his seventh start over the past eight games for Rochester.
FITZPATRICK TO JOIN HALL OF FAME TONIGHT
The Amerks will induct former defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick into the team’s Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony tonight. Fitzpatrick will become the 68th member and first-ever Rochester-born player to be enshrined.
The Irondequoit native patrolled the Rochester blueline for parts of five seasons between 2001-02 and 2004-05 followed by another two-year stint from 2008-10 where he would serve as team captain in what would be his final two seasons. In 211 career games in the red, white and blue, Fitzpatrick amassed 50 points (14+36) and 240 penalty minutes while also adding two assists in 13 playoff appearances.
In his five seasons with the Amerks, he was unanimously named the winner of the organization’s McCulloch Trophy for his commitment to the Rochester community on four different occasions, the second-most by any player in the 68-year history of the franchise. He was also twice named Rochester’s AHL Man of the Year for his community service, an award he won in back-to-back years in 2009 and again in 2010.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague are among the AHL’s top scoring defensemen, having combined for 11 goals and 44 points this season.
Davies, who had points in three straight games for the second time this season since closing out the month of October on a five-game point streak, scored his eighth goal of the year Monday at Toronto. He enters the weekend tied for 10th in goals by a defenseman and remains on pace to match the career-high 11 he scored last season. He’s never gone more than four straight games without a point.
Currently on recall with the Buffalo Sabres, Clague is tied for 22nd among all blueliners with 20 assists. With two assists back on Feb. 14 at Utica, he has reached the 20-assist mark for the second time in his career and has eclipsed the 20-point mark for the third time since his rookie campaign.
ROUSEK RACKING UP THE POINTS
Lukas Rousek has been one of the team’s most consistent point-getters since the turn of 2024, having recorded points in 15 of 19 games in that stretch while also producing 21 points over his last 25 games since Dec. 20.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection (160th overall) by the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft, currently leads the team with 28 assists and 37 points while his nine goals are tied for seventh. Among all Amerks who have appeared in at least 30 games, he is tops in points per game (0.86).
The third-year pro and AHL All-Star saw his career-long point streak come to an end on Jan. 26, stopping at 13 games. He totaled 14 points between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20, the second-longest point streak in the league behind only Toronto’s Alex Steeves, who had a point in 16 straight games.
Rousek’s point streak was the longest by an Amerk in 24 years since Hall of Famer Domenic Pittis had points in 14 straight contests from Jan. 22 to March 4 during the 1999-2000 campaign.
NEW YEAR, NEW NEUCHEV
After producing just five points in his first 23 games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurprisingly emerged as Rochester’s top scoring rookie through the middle of February.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 14 points on five goals and nine assists over his previous 15 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in eight games over that span, including a season-long six-game point streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20 which saw him score three goals and record eight points.
Buffalo’s third-round selection (74th overall) in 2022, Neuchev’s most impressive performance of the season came back on Jan. 27, finding the back of the net for the third time in four games with the game-winning goal while also adding two assists in the 7-4 win over Laval. Since Jan. 6, Neuchev has recorded four multi-point games, which includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s seven goals this season, five have been scored on home ice and three have come against Laval. Neuchev, who had a 40-goal season while playing for Russia’s junior league during the 2021-22 campaign, currently leads all Amerks rookies with 19 points (7+12) and 54 shots in 36 games.
LEANING ON LEVI
Devon Levi has earned the start in nine of the last 12 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, including five straight to open the month of February. He enters the weekend having won three of his last four and five of his last seven.
Levi, who boasts a 6-3-2 record in 11 appearances with the Amerks, totaled 130 saves on 136 shots he’s faced over his recent three-game win streak, boasting an impressive 1.95 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage over that span.
His career-high 52 saves in Monday’s win at Toronto were the most by an Amerks goaltender since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 54 in a 2-1 win at Syracuse on Feb. 25, 2022.
Levi, who ranks 12th among rookie netminders with a 2.53 goals-against average, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in nine of his 11 starts. He’s 6-1-2 this season in those games.
Levi won the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goaltender in men’s college hockey, for the second straight year following the 2022-23 season. The only two-time winner in the award’s history, Levi led the nation again with a .933 save percentage, and tied for third in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183).
TOKARSKI ON THE MOVE
Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who missed the first eight games of the season due to an injury he sustained in training camp, made his season debut back on Nov. 3 against Utica.
In doing so, the two-time Calder Cup winner and AHL All-Star became just the 18th goaltender in league history to play in 400 career games, a list that also includes former Amerks Bobby Perreault (512), Michael Leighton (507), Drew MacIntyre (440) and Ed Chadwick (417).
Tokarski, who’s in his second stint with the Amerks and 10th different AHL franchise, went 1-1-0 during a brief two-game stint with Rochester as part of the COVID-shortnened 2020-21 campaign. He went 12-20-7 in 42 appearances with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021-23.
Currently in his 15th season, he joins Marcel Paille and Michael Leighton as the only goaltenders all-time to play at least 15 seasons in the AHL.
Tokarski, who’s 7-7-2 in his first 17 appearances, surpassed the 10,000-save mark for his AHL career following a 31-save effort against Utica on Nov. 10. He also reached the 12,000-save mark for his pro career the week prior when he made his season debut against the Comets.
Entering tonight, the 34-year-old Tokarski is six wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also one game away from tying Ed Chadwick for 16th all-time (417) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
A (JOB)ST WELL DONE
Amerks forward Mason Jobst enters tonight with 18 points (8+10) over his last 19 games, the most by an Amerk since the turn of the new year. Jobst, who appeared in his 200th professional game on at Utica on Feb. 14, recorded a career-best three-assist outing last Friday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and followed that up by scoring his career-high 15th goal of the season Wednesday against Belleville.
After closing out the 2022-23 campaign with career-highs in all offensive categories, the fifth-year forward has already surpassed his goal total in 18 fewer games this season. Jobst, who is the second Amerk this season to reach the 30-point mark, is second on the team in goals (15) and points (33) while his 18 assists are second-most amongst all Rochester forwards.
In 204 career games, all in the American Hockey League with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton, the Ohio State product has notched 44 goals and 65 assists for 109 points.
SERIES NOTABLES
Devon Levi earned his first win as an Amerk in his American Hockey League debut at Belleville back on Dec. 1. The rookie netminder stopped 40 of 42 through regulation and overtime before turning aside all four Senators shooters in the skills competition. He’s appeared in all three games against Belleville this season, boasting a 1-2-0 record with a .911 save percentage.
Both Rochester (11-4-1-2) and Belleville (8-3-2-1) come into the matchup sporting winning records when leading after the first period. The Senators are 13-2-1-1 this season when carrying a lead into the second period while the Amerks remain a perfect 14-0-0-0 in that regard.
Including both games earlier this season in Belleville, Rochester has scored nine first-period goals dating back to start the 2022-23 campaign. The Amerks have scored in six of the last 11 first periods during that span. Belleville (14) has scored in all but two first periods over that same stretch.
In 32 of the last 37 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2017-18 season, the Amerks have scored two or more goals while Belleville has found the back of the net in all but two games during the stretch.
There has been just one shutout over the previous 37 games with Rochester coming up on the wrong side of a 2-0 score on Feb. 7, 2018.
13 contests have been decided beyond regulation, which includes a 3-2 shootout win for the Amerks in the first meeting this season.